If you’re mindfully eating, it means that you’re eating slowly and with complete awareness of each bite that you take. You’re savoring the appearance, taste, and texture of the food. Your experience of eating in this way is very different from eating while you’re watching television, or while you’re at your desk at work, or while standing at your kitchen counter, ready to rush out the door.

With our fast-paced life, and our focus on multitasking, we seldom have our full attention on anything that we’re doing. This can lead to increased stress, and decreased enjoyment. I understand why we do it. We want to be productive. There’s a lot of pressure on us to do more than one thing at a time. We get used to splitting our attention and our actions. It comes at a price, though.

We all need to think about the impact of multitasking, rather than immersing ourselves in each moment and each activity. We’re missing out on a lot of quality time, and a lot of satisfaction that comes from a more singular focus.

How often are you truly mindful in your daily life? It would be pretty difficult to live mindfully every minute of the day, but we can begin to take small steps toward increased mindfulness. The next time when you’re ready to eat, don’t turn on the t.v., and don’t pick up a book — just really see what you’re eating, fully taste each bite with your mind focused on it. It’s a very different experience, and a good place to start living more mindfully.

What ideas can you come up with? Where can you start? How can you celebrate the moments of your life more mindfully? I’d really like to know!

I’m glad that is was a helpful reminder, Cindy. I think we all need reminders — including me. We get caught up in the busyness of life, and we tend to forget to really be aware of those important moments, as they slip by. I believe very much in the value of mindfulness, so ever so often, I’ll write a post on it.

You’re so welcome, Michelle! All we really have is this moment, so we don’t want to not be present for it. Our moments come and go, whether we’re aware of them or not. But we enjoy them so much more when we’re aware!

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Linda Menesez, MSW, LCSW

Linda Menesez, MSW, LCSW has been a psychotherapist since 1996. Her deep empathy for what her clients are going through comes from personal experience. One of her joys is helping people find their way to a healthier, happier life, where they break through their limitations and see their uniqueness and potential.